Building A Human Empire By Creating A Clan [EN]: Chapter 166

Creating Subordinates to Build a Human Empire 168

Simultaneous

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Red Mountain.

A peak superior to all others.

Bruno Bronzehammer climbed Red Mountain for the first time in his life.

Clang, clang—

And he was disappointed.

‘I expected something different, since they say orichalcum and mithril are as common as stones here, but it’s not much different from other peaks.’

The only difference was the scale. Thanks to the artisans drawn to the two minerals, there were so many workshops. So much so that there wasn’t enough space to build workshops inside the peak.

Clatter, clatter…

Also, the workshops were full of undead.

‘They don’t use humans at all.’

Until a few years ago, human slaves did all the simple labor. They started using undead after the slave supply was cut off, but there should still be some of the slaves they used to have.

But there wasn’t a single human on Red Mountain.

“Not that way!”

“You idiot, do it right!”

The artisans hurled abuse at the skeletons, who couldn’t understand them.

“······.”

The dwarven society had changed drastically over the past few years. The emergence of the Old God from the abyss and the spread of necromancy was the beginning of the change.

Convenience is a terrible thing. Even though they hated necromancy so much, once they tasted convenience, they couldn’t let it go. Even in workshops with enough human slaves, they mobilized the undead, and in just a few years, the dead were integrated into everyday life.

‘Red Mountain is even worse.’

Not all dwarves welcomed it. Quite a few peaks revolted, rejecting the Old God and launching armed struggles. As recently as two months ago, there was an uprising in a small peak.

But their end was always the same. They were defeated and enslaved as undead, and their property was distributed equally among the peaks that participated in the suppression.

‘Is this okay?’

Bruno couldn’t adapt to the changes easily.

He felt that dwarven society was old-fashioned. He admired change so much that he was called a weirdo, and he even accepted the disgrace of being the first dwarf to copy human items.

But now, he couldn’t keep up with the changes. He didn’t know if he had become old-fashioned or if the dwarves were going down the wrong path.

Clang— Clang—

He went to see Gotava, the master of Red Mountain. His workshop was a workplace where more than 40 artisans stayed, and he used nearly 1,000 undead as servants. He must have had the same number of slaves, so where did they go?

Clang—!

Gotava was surrounded by artisans, hammering away. Bruno watched him and then looked at the statues standing behind the artisans.

Three giant statues made of orichalcum and mithril.

The three statues rolled their eyes as they received Bruno’s gaze. Magic dwelled in the gemstone eyes, and Bruno gasped as his eyes met them.

“We, we greet the Great Ones.”

The statues were the ancestral gods of Red Mountain.

Their souls dwelled in the bodies given by the Old God.

“We greet the Great Ones.”

As he carefully greeted them, the three statues averted their gaze. And Gotava stopped hammering. He wiped the sweat from his face with his hand and dismissed the artisans.

‘He’s changed.’

Only then did Bruno notice Gotava’s appearance. His black beard had turned white, his reddish skin had turned black, and even the whites of his eyes had turned black. He was also a few inches taller, unlike a dwarf.

‘Is this also the influence of the Old God?’

Bruno often went down from the peak to spread technology, so he saw the changes in other races firsthand. Orcs and goblins who had been baptized, high elves created by Aleon, etc. In his opinion, Gotava’s appearance change was also in this category.

“Bruno Bronzehammer?”

“It’s been a while, Lord Gotava.”

“Do you know why I chose you?”

“Isn’t it because I was the first to take an interest in humans?”

“That’s close enough to the answer.”

Gotava showed him the weapons piled up in one corner of the workshop. It was a musket. It was a flintlock musket, a weapon that humans had recently improved.

“Humans have made a funny toy.”

Click, click, Gotava pulled the trigger.

“You shouldn’t underestimate it. Each one doesn’t have much power, but when they have enough numbers, they’re terrifying.”

“So I’ve heard.”

He snorted as if he couldn’t understand.

“······.”

At that moment, magic rose and then subsided around Gotava. It was fleeting, but Bruno sensed the flow of magic and saw Gotava’s attitude soften.

“···Anyway, the reason I chose you is because of that perspective of yours. Because you see things differently from us. I thought you, who are closer to humans, would be able to do it.”

His gaze turned to Bruno’s back.

“Did you finish it?”

“Yes.”

Bruno untied the bag he was carrying and took out a wooden box. Inside the box was a glass bottle filled with cotton. A liquid as clear as water showed viscosity as it shook slightly.

“Be careful. It’s dangerous if even a little leaks out.”

Gotava flinched as he received the glass bottle.

“How much?”

“It causes inflammation just by touching the skin or mucous membranes. If it enters the body through breathing, most living things will die in agony.”

“Oh ho.”

“Of course, it won’t have much effect on a strong person like Lord Gotava.”

He was an existence that wouldn’t budge even if struck by lightning. Poison would only cause minor pain to an existence that would quickly recover even if his whole body was charred black. It wouldn’t lead to death.

If you think about it, you might think it’s nothing special, but from the beginning, what Gotava asked Bruno for wasn’t a poison that could kill the strong.

It was a deadly poison that could slaughter ordinary humans.

“How do I use this?”

“You can add additives to it to loosen the viscosity and spray it from the sky. We’re also devising a way to send it flying like a cannonball from that cannon, but that will take some time.”

“Indeed··· Is there enough quantity?”

“The elves are helping. It won’t be lacking.”

“Good, good.”

Gotava smiled with satisfaction.

“If humans try to surpass us with technology, we have to show them. That we haven’t wasted ten thousand years. That we’re not just idiots with a knack for craftsmanship. Don’t you think so, Bruno?”

Instead of answering, Bruno smiled awkwardly. He despised humans and didn’t object to annihilating them, but he thought the poison he made was too dangerous.

‘Not all dwarves are as strong as Gotava. It’s a poison made to catch humans, but··· it’s a poison that could catch us in reverse. I have to hope that humans don’t copy our weapons like we copied human weapons.’

“What should we call this?”

“Do we really need a name? Let’s just call it poison gas.”

“Well, that’s fine too. The nameless are more frightening.”

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“Get on the ship in order!”

The Imperial Army gathered on the eastern coast of Tissireddon. They numbered 5 divisions, or 30,000 men, and were lining up to board the transport ships docked on the coast.

The number of transport ships was 113.

The number of escort ships was 7 armored ships and 45 warships.

The purpose of the grand fleet of 165 ships was the conquest of the eastern sea of the Human Empire. To conquer the sea that had been under the rule of the Naga [snake-like sea creatures] since before humans settled on the southwestern peninsula, that was the stated purpose of the expeditionary fleet.

“Lift it up slowly!”

“Be careful not to get it wet! It’s gunpowder!”

“The barrel has changed! Why are there cannonballs instead of lime!”

The real purpose was different.

The goal hidden within the loudly proclaimed purpose was containment.

It was a difficult goal to conquer the Naga, who were stronger than the orcs and goblins, with an expeditionary force of 5 divisions plus 3 regiments.

The real purpose of the expeditionary fleet was to conquer some of the Naga’s strongholds to draw their attention. With the Old God summoning all of his subordinates, it was to prevent the different races from gathering completely.

The real goal was to attack strongholds close to the Naga’s base and force the Naga’s expeditionary forces to retreat or consume them.

“Something’s visible at 11 o’clock!”

Bang! Bang!

The lookout on the lead armored ship shouted, followed by gunfire. A Naga was sticking its head out of the water in the distance. It must have seen the expeditionary fleet being organized and loading soldiers and supplies.

“Cease fire.”

Horatio, who was in charge of the expeditionary fleet, gave the order as if muttering. Following his words, the adjutant raised his voice and the gunfire stopped.

“Will it be okay?”

The Naga hid in the water.

“What do you mean? The purpose is to get caught.”

Horatio yawned and stirred his spoon. He was holding a teacup in his left hand on the forecastle deck. Even though it was an expedition he wasn’t participating in, he wasn’t nervous at all, and his eyes were half-closed as usual.

“······.”

At that sight, the adjutant sighed.

“Don’t worry. It’ll be fine.”

He sipped his tea and looked at the seabird that had connected its consciousness with me.

“Isn’t that right, Your Majesty?”

I changed my perspective. From the seabird soaring in the sky of Tissireddon and looking down, I connected my consciousness with the eagle flying in the sky of the Nerup Plains.

The blue light of the sea disappeared, and the yellow light of the desert appeared.

Thud, thud, thud—

Dust rose in the desert where a dry heat was felt. It wasn’t a common sandstorm. It was because a group of subordinates was riding horses, causing dust to cling to them like a tail.

“We’re almost there! Keep running!”

The eastern end of the Nerup Plains.

Subordinates were running towards the Lizardmen’s kingdom. They were the 6th Regiment, organized with about 1,000 men. The regimental commander was Knight Commander Mortier, a subordinate created when the Subordinate Creation skill reached 8 stars.

“His Majesty is watching!”

Under the dry and hot sun, the unit led by a republican who swore allegiance to the Emperor was running to find the enemy.

Thump, thump, thump—

And I changed my perspective again.

The third changed perspective captured the jade-colored plains. In the southern plains of Pantonia, where a cool breeze was blowing, there was an Imperial Army conducting military training.

“Cowards who only use guns!”

“You guys can’t run because your horses are too heavy, right?”

“Kill them!”

The 1st Regiment and the 3rd Regiment cursed at each other and engaged in close combat. There was no respect for each other, as much as the harsh curses they spat out. Even if blood splattered and flesh tore, they mercilessly beat each other.

“Hey, hey! Take it easy!”

“You’re too strong!”

On the other hand, the humans were only loud, and they treated each other gentlemanly.

“What are you doing! Don’t think of them as allies and fight!”

“The priests will heal you anyway!”

“I won’t let you off if you lose again!”

From the south preparing for the maritime expedition, the east running to find the enemy, and the north focusing on training while waiting for the enemy, I looked at the three places alternately and finally changed my perspective.

“······.”

The fourth was not a bird, but me. It was the sight seen by my own two eyes, the command center in the Olymus Imperial Palace.

In the center of the command center, there were three tables. I had just looked at them alternately, and now I was looking at the places I was looking at simultaneously.

Swish, swish···

I reached out to the map. Then, a blue light appeared on the map, and a semi-transparent mark appeared like a hologram. It was a mark made of the scene I was currently seeing through the eyes of a bird.

“Oh···.”

“Is this the current state of the 3 armies?”

The human officers in the command center exclaimed in unison.

Subordinates could read my thoughts, so I didn’t need to make marks, but humans couldn’t read my thoughts. I gave them help for convenience.

I gestured to the guards standing in front of the table.

“Horatio’s expeditionary fleet will set sail soon. The expeditionary fleet will move along the southeastern coastline of the Empire for 4 days, then split into three and occupy the islands of Gmarka, Poltera, and Pueteven respectively.”

Julia Löwenegger, who was staring at the map as the guard explained the situation, narrowed her eyes.

“Isn’t dispersion dangerous? What about the garrisons on the islands?”

“According to the Security Forces’ intelligence, the islands have almost no garrisons. It is presumed that they left to join the Assembly.”

The guard pointed to the next table, where a map of Pantonia was placed.

“The Pantonia garrison has no special activity. In this operation, the Pantonia army will only prepare for the offensives of the two races, elves and dwarves, and will not participate in the preventive war.”

Next was the Nerup Plains, and the 6th Regiment had just crossed the border.

“The goal of Mortier’s 6th Regiment is to thin out the gathering Lizardmen. They will launch a preemptive strike before the forces of Sumontema, Koamic, and the two Avatars gather and move as one.”

The eagle flying over the 6th Regiment discovered the enemy.

“Enemy discovered. The number is about 19,000. There are no Avatars.”

I marked the enemy seen through the eyes of the bird in red on the map. The number of enemies was 20 times that of Mortier’s regiment, but they were scattered here and there, and it was clear that they were not prepared for a surprise attack.

“6th Regiment, increase speed.”

Soon the enemy discovered the regiment and began to move.

They blew trumpets and beat drums to gather their forces.

“Their movements are slow.”

“They would have already gathered if it were the Imperial Army.”

The officers whispered, watching the scattered marks gather in one place.

As they evaluated, the Lizardmen were unskilled even though they had a large number. If the Imperial Army had faced the same situation, they would have lined up before the enemy came within range.

But the Lizardmen didn’t do that. They were in chaos for a long time. The reason for their low level was probably because they were divided into Sumontema and Koamic and fighting.

“No matter what excuse they make, incompetence is incompetence.”

Julia scoffed as she looked at the map.

Ta-da-da-da-dang! Bang! Ta-dang!

At least some of them lined up and fired muskets. They were imitating the Imperial Army’s volley fire, but it was lacking in many ways compared to the Imperial Army.

“Enemy musket fire.”

“Oh?”

“There are no casualties.”

“None? What were they doing?”

“They fired from outside the effective range.”

They fired without coming within the effective range, so there was no way it would hit. At least a few cannons fired from within range, but they were just as terrible. Most of the cannonballs fell where the horses had passed.

Phew-hi-hi-hing—

Still, there were horses that fell after being hit by stray cannonballs. But as the guard said, there were no casualties. The subordinates were wearing armor forged from orichalcum and mithril, so they couldn’t be injured by bullets fired from black powder.

The Lizardmen were terrified. No matter how many of them there were, what was contained in one person’s eyes was a thousand cavalrymen, so it was not easy to endure that fear.

“Oh my, it’s over.”

Guard Raimondo muttered behind me, and Calliope glared at him.

“Some of the enemy’s front lines are fleeing.”

The marks moved with a subtle light. The enemy, who had been gathered in a circle, began to scatter.

“Distance to collision 200m. 150, 100, 50···.”

On the contrary, the 6th Regiment gathered with Mortier at the forefront, then changed their formation into a cone-like triangle and stabbed the enemy.

“6th Regiment, engagement has begun.”

The subordinate’s machine-like, dry relay.

“Kill them all! Leave the judgment to Father!”

The Knight Commander’s fierce cry.

“Departure!”

And it was simultaneous with Horatio’s expeditionary fleet unfurling its sails.